Ucap sees increase in coco-oil exports
THE Philippines will end the year with coconut-oil (CNO) shipments of 970,000 metric tons in copra terms (MT-CT) due to higher demand from the country’s major markets, the United Coconut Association of the Philippines (Ucap) said on Thursday.
Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Ucap Executive Director Yvonne T.V. Agustin said CNO shipments in January to April have already reached 366,992 MT-CT, 35.1 percent higher than last year’s 271,696 MT-CT.
At this rate, Agustin said the Philippines will be able to hit its export target of 970,000 MT-CT this year. The figure is nearly 2 percent higher than the 951,353 MT-CT shipped last year.
“Our preliminary figures for May alone showed that more than 100,000 metric tons [of CNO were exported],” she told reporters during a news briefing in Quezon City.
In terms of value, Agustin said traders are hopeful that global CNO prices will recover soon so export receipts will remain at $1 billion this year.
She said Ucap received reports that Indonesia and Malaysia are ramping up their local consumption of palm oil and is using this as biodiesel to ease their supply glut.
This, Agustin said, will push global palm-oil prices and even CNO as the price of the country’s most valuable farm export tracks the price of the palm oil. The United States and Europe are the major buyers of Philippine CNO.
Ucap also projected that the country’s coconut-based exports this year will rise by 6.7 percent to 1.878 MMT-CT, from 1.760 MMT-CT last year.
However, total export receipts could decline by 17.13 percent to $1.185 billion, from $1.43 billion last year due to lower CNO prices.
Agustin said the country’s earnings from CNO could be less than what Ucap projected in the first quarter when CNO prices hovered around $700 per MT to $800/MT. This is because CNO prices fell to $600/MT to $650/MT last month.
“Current market prices are below the projected prices. Maybe if the [export] volume will exceed expectation, then we might be able to hit the [target] value,” she said.
The country’s total coconut-based exports from January to April expanded by 35 percent to 660,841 MT-CT from 489,357 MT-CT. However, export receipts contracted by 9.3 percent to $549.143 million, from $605.488 million recorded in the same period of last year.
Full article here: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/07/12/ucap-sees-increase-in-coco-oil-exports/
